I haven't posted a writing prompt in over two months. Life seems to go better when there's a poem lurking backstage.
Hubski has been full of poetry. _refugee_'s poem This Time I'm Really Going to Do It was inspiring and I thought that it might make an interesting prompt - but it seemed that I wasn't really going to do it or even get close. Then PeterC's "Salt Man" and elizabeth's subsequent illustrations got me thinking about dissolving as a prompt and then I started thinking about all the people in the periodic table (Iodine Man, Antimony Woman, Tin Man, Rhodium Girl). My favourite comic book in the 1960s, and maybe always, was the Metal Men. (I always identified with Tina, or Platnium.)
But I digress. I just heard a love poem called "Don't Touch Me" and thought perhaps I'd leave that prompt with hubski. There seems to be lots of things we're not allowed to touch or encouraged to touch. Times to touch or not touch. Risks. --- This prompt also brings to mind a story I wrote about a co-ed sauna.
EDIT: Can I make this picture smaller?
Don't touch me the way a crow lights on a wire and then takes flight. Don't touch me like two ships passing in the night. Don't touch me as if I am a plastic toy made in Hong Kong
and you are shopping for the cheapest gift. Don't touch me the way a merchant lifts a piece of fabric
looking for rifts. Don't touch me the way a one-armed man shakes hands, or the way the trembling fingers of an old woman lands, as she buttons up her sweater. No, I want the fetters of commitment,
'I love you' spelled letter by letter. Touch me like a mother hen rests on her eggs or the way a dog begs for a bone or the way a jazz musician's mouth blows a wild note on a saxophone or a pigeon hones in on home. I want to be touched like I'm the last woman on earth and you are the last man and you have loved me since we were kids. You have loved me and waited all those years. Touch me the way a connoisseur at an auction bids when he fears his bid is too low. Touch me the way the wind blows the rain as if it knows
where every drop should go. Touch me as if you are kissing your own spirit, as if you know the answer to the meaning of life, as if you are a knife slicing fruit, touch me with the truth. Touch me with your voice, lingering on each vertebrate, each knuckle, Touch me the way newborn babies suckle. Touch me with your ears that listen for each creak of my soul. Touch me like I am a tuning fork that picks up the slightest variation in your breath. Touch me like I am the shroud that wraps you in death.
(just a placeholder) Don't touch me
said the mountain
to the clouds.
When you're around
I feel invisible.
Don't touch me
said the teabag
to the steaming water.
When you're around
I lose myself.
Don't touch me
said the trees
to the wind
When you're around
I feel abandoned.
Don't touch me
Said the shore to the wave
I never know whether
You're coming or going.
I'm not yours, I'm not here for you Why do you follow me? I'm here to pick up my daughter And she's not here for you either Run away now, go home -- Why do you follow me? I'm not yours, I'm not here for you My son is done with school And you're not him Go Home
Aww it's always nice to be mentioned like that :) I'm not much of a poet but i'll read what you people come up with. Comic books seem to be the secret #tagoftheweek with the book club reading Watchmen. In the meantime, I'm trying to learn the basics of illustrator so maybe i'll re-draw Peter's poem there if I have the patience.
Don’t Touch Me
or How Things Work I approach.
You recoil.
I approach. You sleep.
I approach. You recoil.
I give up.
You surface.
I recoil.
You sleep.
I knew this.
You too.
I knew going in.
And went in.
Even
early on
you told me I was
“off the scale”
in my
preference for
cuddling
over, say,
movies.
That said
you’re
OK
with
an
open
relationship
Both then
and now . . .
20 years on.
I have always wanted to write a poem about The Radium Girls but have not yet. I'm at work right now (as always). Maybe I can pop back on late tonight or tomorrow and try to cook something up.
I imagine this is not what you were expecting. To the tune of "Buffalo Girls" - thenewgreen here's ya song lyrics ;) Radium Girl As I was working on the line
on the line, on the line
A pretty little gal I chanced to spy
Oh she was fair to see
Radium Girl, won’t you come out tonight
come out tonight, come out tonight,
Radium Girl, won’t you come out tonight
Your nails are as bright as the moon
I stopped so I could talk to her
talk to her, talk to her
Her smile was as bright as water
and almost blinded me
Radium Girl, won’t you come out tonight
come out tonight, come out tonight,
Radium Girl, won’t you come out tonight
Your eyes are as bright as the moon
I asked if I could have a kiss
have a kiss, have a kiss
I’d rather ask than have to miss
my chance at her glowing lips
Radium Girl, won’t you come out tonight
come out tonight, come out tonight,
Radium Girl, won’t you come out tonight
Your lips are as bright as the moon
She looked at me and started laughing
started laughing, started laughing
But I was lovestruck, kept on asking
til she lit up my lips like the moon
Radium Girl, won’t you come out tonight
come out tonight, come out tonight,
Radium Girl, won’t you come out tonight
You make me as bright as the moon
Maybe she'll come out and together they'll have a Radium Baby.
I'll see what I can do. May be a while, I'm living amongst boxes and work is kicking my Ars... But I'm excited to try.